Notes of an Egging Expedition to Shoal Lake, West of Lake Winnipeg 3
by Elizabeth CampbellOne of the great 19th Century pastimes for naturalists was collecting natural history, be it in the form of fossil, plant, insect, animal, bird or anything related! I’ve seen two collections that were quite overwhelming – one in the Manitoba Museum exhibit of hidden treasures from vaults of museums in the province: butterflies of all sizes and colours pinned on panels to make a whole booth in the exhibit! The other was at the Sutherland seat in Golspie, Sutherland, Dunrobin Castle, where there is a strange little museum full of hunting trophies, dusty stuffed birds and Pictish stones….
Western or Long-necked Grebe
Donald Gunn, in his 1867 expedition, was out collecting for the Smithsonian. His main targets seem to have been grebes, more specifically, Podiceps occidentalis, or the Long-necked Grebe, which occurred in Rupert’s Land only on Shoal Lake in one bay and locally on Lake Manitoba at the time. But he also collected pelicans, ducks, gulls, herons and other species of grebes, and their eggs on this and other expeditions to the same area. He recorded his observations on the various specimens collected and their habits in the wild. Once shot, the birds were skinned, and collected eggs were emptied to make their preservation easier.
The expedition spent 10 days at Shoal Lake before moving on to collect more specimens at Pitoo-Winnipeg Manitowaba. In leaving Shoal Lake, he makes the observation that
[a]ll round the lake there is an abundance of wood, with many fine, open plains in every direction, offering great facilities and promising rich rewards to the industry of the husbandman. The only drawbacks in the way of making settlements at this lake is its bitter, disagreeable water.
Donald Gunn makes another acquaintance along the way, this time a Métis, and through his description of the man, we may learn some more about the Métis of the day and their way of life:
On the way we met a young half-breed from the bay going to Grebe bay. He had his “dug-out” on a cart drawn by an ox. He stated that his object in going there was to hunt muskrats and collect as many eggs of all kinds as he could, to take home to eat. As these people neither sow nor reap, they have to subsist on what the seasons afford.
Tags: Donald Gunn, Duke of Sutherland, Dunrobin Castle, earning a living, Golspie, Lake Manitoba, Life at the RRS, Life at the Settlement, Métis, Shoal Lake, Sutherland, wildlife in Rupert's Land
